Silver Scales
by Moumaphet
Summary: Ling Tong awakens from a disturbingly realistic nightmare to find that no one has seen Gan Ning since the end of the last battle. He finds the pirate caught in a failing attempt to fish, resulting in the delay of both of their dinners.


Warm blood clung to the palms of his hands, resting on the slowly cooling cheeks of his former enemy. Dark eyes fluttered and closed, one last breath falling with a whoosh from between half-open lips. "Gan Ning!" Ling Tong cried. A trembling hand pressed against his elbow, and he reached out to take it with shaking fingers.

"Hah," a dry, ill-humored chuckle shook from the fallen warrior as the larger hand fell, knocking the slimmer hand to Ling Tong's side. "In your… dreams." Ling Tong screamed.

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With a gasp, Ling Tong sat up. The blankets, wrapped around him after a night of restless sleep, fell to his waist. His bare chest heaved as he slowly swung his legs over the side of the futon. The hands that pulled on his clothing and buckled his armor shook.

In a few short moments, the pony-tailed warrior was out in the hall, amongst the warriors. "Where is Gan Ning?" Two soldiers glanced at each other, bewildered, and a third answered from his position by the opening of the tent.

"None have seen him since the end of the battle, yesterday, milord," the man said in a deep baritone. His gaze was searching. Ling Tong's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm going out," he said. Without another glance at the men in the hall, he pushed out into the open air and started off around the tent to the make-shift stable where the horses were being held. He nodded at the young boy who opened the creaking door for him and walked quickly down through the stalls to where his horse stood, a huge, gorgeous auburnowar horse by the name of Cinnamon Dream.

In another moment, he had the horse out of the stall and he was swinging up into the saddle. "I'll be back," he said to the stable boy as he passed, knowing what a proud picture he gave, but too distracted to make any attempt of effort. "Let none fill that stall."

His mind ran as he re-traced the path down to where he had found his friend (…enemy? The line was too blurred now to know for sure) in his dream. The tree the Wu general had fallen against was bare, no blonde pirates there to decorate it. Though his mind had run blank the moment he had pulled into the clearing, Ling Tong descended from the horse and stepped slowly toward the towering, bare-leafed monument to a nightmare. His foot brushed against metal and he stopped, his gaze frozen on the leaves.

Ling Tong slowly stepped backward and turned his head downwards. A shining red gauntlet glittered in the morning sun. "How did I miss that?" he asked himself with a sigh and a shake of his head as he leaned over and picked up the discarded armor. After a few glances around for the wayward blonde, Tong blinked. "Wha…?"

Feeling as though he had fallen right into one of the stories his mother had whispered to him as a child snug against her breast, the warrior followed the trail of armor and clothes, picking up each new garment and dropping it into the bags slung over Cinnamon Dream's saddle with one hand while he lead the horse with the other.

After a while of trailing slowly along the riverside, keeping his eyes on the grass so as not to miss any forgotten items, he heard a splash. He blinked as he rounded the corner and a gleaming, tanned back brought the shine of the sun directly to his eyes. With a frown, Ling Tong brought one arm up to block his eyes.

Gan Ning was waist deep in the river; smooth skin dripped and stretched over muscle as he shifted, quietly muttering to himself. A slow smirk spread over Ling Tong's lips.

Blonde hair had been torn from eternal spikes by the clear water, smoothed down against Gan Ning's head. A pair of shining red boots had been abandoned on the small riverbank. The only remaining article the brunet could pick out on the wet pirate were his trousers- although he also had his daggers, which he occasionally stabbed into the water and withdrew with mumbled curses.

"Are you trying to fish?" Ling Tong asked casually, one hand still raised to block the sun from his eyes as he abandoned his horse and took a few steps forward. Gan Ning's head whipped around, his narrowed eyes focusing on Ling Tong's face as he raised his weapons into the air.

"Oh," the pirate muttered. The blades fell.

"Oh," Tong parroted. A wide smile, a true smile, crossed his face as Ning scowled. The scowl was only there for a second, however, as the second the pirate spotted the grin on Tong's face it fell into a mask of shock. He recovered quickly, however, and covered his lapse in rudeness with a loud laugh and a smirk.

"Like you could do any better," Ning said. The effect of the smug look on his face was ruined by the blond bangs dripping over his face, and the smile on Tong's face remained even as he moved forward and untied the silk bows holding on his shoulder and arm armor. It wasn't until he dropped the scarf holding the jade disks from his waist and began to peel off his leg wrappings that the smirk on Ning's face fell to a frown of confusion.

"Seriously, Ling Tong," he said as Tong dropped his spear-axe onto his clothes, "I've never seen you smile before. What the hell's up with you today?"

The man in question laughed uncharacteristically before reaching up with one hand and pulling the leather tie holding up his ponytail out. The pirate's face was unreadable as Tong dove into the water.

It was cleansing, feeling the cool water between his fingers and at the roots of his hair as he languidly propelled himself forward with his feet. The memory of Gan Ning's ravaged face shaking with the attempt to speak in his last moments was almost washed away in the current… but not quite.

Tong's hair made a rather impressive arc as he pressed his feet into the ground and swung his head upwards in an attempt to sweep the long mane out of his face. When he finally stood plain in the water and wiped the clear fluid from his eyes to open them, he found himself face to face with a blinking, dripping blonde pirate. He reached out one open hand and waited, staring at the sharp dagger held in Ning's left hand. "Can't do much with mine," he said bluntly. After a moment of consideration, Ning dropped one blade into the offered hand.

"Well, the fish're definitely all gone now," Ning said, his scowl reinstated.

"So… wait," Tong said, turning his back to Ning as he gazed into the water. The other man was silent for that moment, so he let his mind pass on to other things as he watched for the flash of brightly colored scales in the clear river.

It took only a few moments for an especially curious fish to pass too close to the brunet's leg, and he speared it expertly and lifted it into the air. When he turned to show it to Ning, however, he found the other man's eyes already trained on him, the remaining blade halfway in the water under his hanging arm as he stared at Tong. "What?" The dark-haired warrior asked.

"You didn't answer my question," he said. Those smoldering eyes remained on Tong's face, unmoving, even as the more slender man paused and tilted his head. "I had a dream," he said bluntly. "You died." Gan Ning's expression didn't change.

"And what does that have to do with anything? Alive or dead, I can't imagine anything that happens to me mattering to you." His voice was nonplussed, and Tong felt his throat tighten as he realized how absolutely he had isolated himself from this other man.

"It does matter," he murmured, letting the fish and blade slowly lower.

"Does it?" The large hand caught Tong's right before the fish touched the water again, and Ling Tong found himself directly face to face with a man he had once considered his most obvious enemy.

So close.

He could pick out the delicate lines beginning to form at the corners of Ning's eyes; the slight crook in his long, handsome nose; the fading, ticked scar forming a thin white path through his left eyebrow… And the hand under his own made him think back to the dream, bringing another slight smile to his face.

"What are you staring at?" Ning asked. His hand remained under Tong's, and neither man made to move. His voice was calm, neither rising nor falling, and Tong thought he could consider that a positive sign as he finally let his eyes fall to Gan Ning's.

"I grabbed your face like this," he finally said, dropping the blade and fish into Ning's hand as he raised both hands to the other man's face suddenly, feeling him stiffen beneath his palms. The blonde pirate's eyes had darkened, but he made no move to remove himself from Tong's touch.

"You'd been attacked. When I found you…" he paused. Ning's eyes were digging into his, making his tongue feel sluggish and foolish as he continued, closing his eyes in a failing attempt to block out the heavy gaze. "You said that you understood the pain I had, continuing on after my father had died." At this, Ling Tong leaned his head forward, a wry smile crossing his face. The thought of Ning seeking forgiveness after all Tong had done was laughable, and he didn't want to see the look of disbelief on Ning's face as it appeared, so he kept his eyes closed firmly.

"I told you… that I was going to take out all of my anger on you." Now having difficulty remembering why he had begun this tale in the first place, Tong sighed. "I had thought that you were dead then, but… your arm." His eyes were open now, but Ning's had closed. A quiet splash was heard as the daggers and fish fell from the pirate's hands into the water.

"It brushed against mine… here," Tong closed his eyes again, feeling that same burning in the back of his eyes, and leaned his forehead lightly against the larger man's as he reached down with one hand and pulled up Ning's unresisting hand as though it were searching for his own. Tong's hand came back up and brushed against that tan cheek, feeling the corner of rough lips before slowly reaching down to brush against the larger hand as though it hadn't held it mere seconds ago.

"And you said," Tong swallowed, threading his fingers through Ning's own larger, more callused digits. "'In your dreams.'" At that he laughed, a low, mirthless sound, and felt more than heard Ning's own swallow as the two stood motionless.

"And… and then what?" Ning asked, sounding as though he was finding it hard to speak. Tong drew back slowly, glancing into Ning's now opened eyes, and drawing the hand still cupping one cheek to pull at the edges of flattened, wet blonde hair.

"And then you died," he breathed. Ning's jaw worked. "Your hair looks good like this," Tong said. The blond man let out a strangled chuckle at the failed change of subject.

"And yours," he murmured, working his free hand entirely into Tong's hair, massaging the base of his skull. Tong's eyes fluttered shut and a small sigh escaped from him as his body slowly eased out of the tension it had formed while explaining his dream.

"So…" Ning's voice was thick and low, like there was something stuck in his throat. He drew back from Tong slightly and cleared his throat, letting his hand fall from the other man's hair. One of Tong's hands was still touching the ends of his hair lightly while the other was connected with Ning's. Ning have their linked hands a slight squeeze before pulling his away. Ling Tong's face was blank as Ning disconnected from him completely, turning slightly to confusion and then realization as Ning ducked under the water and resurfaced with his daggers in his hands, the fish still speared on one of them.

"So." Ning repeated.

"So." Ling Tong echoed, a slight sparkle returning to his eye. Gan Ning's hair had flopped over into his face, laying attractively down his face.

"Yeah," Ning coughed, attempting to clear his throat again. "Are you going to catch a fish for yourself, or are you just going to watch me eat mine?" Before Tong had a chance to blink, he found the free dagger being tossed at him and the back of his would-be lover facing him as the other man shuffled off toward the edge of the river. The brunet let out a quiet, honest laugh before turning his face downward with a hidden smile.

Though he pretended not to notice, he could hear Gan Ning muttering to himself on the bank as he gathered a few pieces of wood and began his attempt at starting a fire. A silver gleam caught Tong's eye from the corner of his peripheral vision, and he almost missed his cue, barely managing to spear the wiggling creature just before he would have missed it. 'Shouldn't be so distracted,' he thought with a sigh as he turned and started toward where Ning sat next to his sorry little pile of sticks.

Tong had begun to settle down next to Ning, close enough that their legs would be touching, when a slight weight tugged on the fingers of his empty hand, the one nearer to the other man. Being off-balance, he gasped and tumbled toward the other man, finding himself splayed across an empty lap. Ning emitted a slight chuckle, and Tong kept his bright red face turned toward the ground until it cooled.

"What did you do that for?" He snapped without any real bite, still unable to move his flushed face. The fish was suspended just a few inches above the ground in his raised hand, and the other one was still trapped between Ning's unmoving fingers. Expelling a slow breath, the brunet turned his head and glared up at the smirk on the blond's face, hoping that the blush on his face had dissipated. From the way the smirk on Ning's face had grown, he assumed that it hadn't, and he felt the burn spread across his cheekbones.

"You look even better like this," Ning said casually with that infernal smirk still on his face. "Between my legs." At that, Tong attempted to jerk away from the other man, his face feeling something like it would if it was literally on fire, but his path was blocked by Ning's other arm, which pressed down on his back and kept his chest pressed to the other man's thigh.

"Gan Ning-" Ling Tong gasped.

"I don't know why you still call me that," Ning said conversationally. Tong's struggling went on ignored, Ning's large hand square on his back while the other was wrapped around Tong's. "You're practically my closest friend, despite the occasional brawl. If anyone was going to call me just by my given name, I'd think it would be you." At that, Tong stopped, going still.

"Ning," he blurted out, his face reddening again, "Ning, Ning, Ning… Are you going to let me go now?" His voice became slightly desperate at the end, but Ning merely chuckled and released Tong's hand from where it had been connected to his, dragging the freed up to the base of the brunet's skull, working his fingers into the thick, still-wet mane. Tong let out a quiet groan, turning his head back downward.

"Not yet," he muttered, voice low and amused. "Say it again." It wasn't a question. The hair buried in Tong's hair pulled slightly, forcing the smaller man's head slightly upwards, and he let out a moan that was half pained and half wanting.

"Ning," he gasped. The dagger speared into the fish fell to the dirt an inch below without a noise and Tong's newly freed hand clawed into the dirt as he was flipped over onto his back next to the abandoned pile of wood.

Before the brunet had the chance to breath, his hands had been pinned to the ground above his head by one of Gan Ning's as the other traveled down his chest towards his stomach. The blond's knees were pressed into the ground with one in between Tong's, dangerously close to the junction. Letting out a strangled half-cry, the brunet bucked, only managing to pull another smug chuckle from the pirate. Frustrated, Tong closed his eyes and his lips curled downwards.

When Ning's hand paused on his stomach, Tong reopened his eyes and parted his lips, preparing to spit out a biting remark in an attempt to get the pirate to remove himself, only to find the aforementioned man barely half a hands' length from his face. In the instant when Tong gasped, the pirate closed the gap between them and pushed his tongue in between Tong's lips, plundering his mouth like the pirate he was rumored to be. The hand resumed it's movement, playing along the slight trail of dark hair leading downwards from Tong's bellybutton before drifting sideways, brushing against his hip.

Tong's resulting cry broke their mouths apart as the long-haired man turned his head upwards, eyes closed. Ning took advantage of the moment, licking a wet trail across Tong's jugular before sinking his teeth lightly into the side of his neck. Tong's angry, stuttering answer was interrupted by the hand that brushed up and down his side slowly, bringing his to throw his head back again as his eyes rolled shut. Ning let out a surprised little "Ha," before repeating the movement.

Tong let out a weak yelp, his back arching off the ground. The movement brought them tantalizingly close to touching, and Ning hissed, grinding downwards into the other man, who let out a full-fledged moan and pressed up against him, pulling at the hand pinning his own down.

Unthinking, Ning released Tong's hands from captivity and planted his elbows in the ground on either side of Tong's head, bracing himself as he ground down into his partner again.

"Ning," Tong cried out, threading his hands into the other man's hair and pulling him down so that their lips met again, neither mouth remaining closed for more than an instant.

They broke apart again to gasp, Ning resting his forehead against Tong's, as he brought his hips down against the brunet's. He kept his eyes open, staring at Tong's thick, fluttering eyelashes as the other man closed his eyes in an expression of bliss, a light blush still covering his cheeks.

Ning choked back a laugh at the fact that Tong could still blush during the current activities when the other man pressed unexpectedly against him, knocking so hard against him that he was pushed onto his back with the other man on his knees above him. Tong's fingers closed around the tanned biceps beneath him as he pressed downwards, forcing a gasp through Ning's teeth. Ning's eyes remained open, staring upwards at Tong's face, unable to tear his gaze away from those eyes closed in that same expression of pleasure.

"God, I wish I could do this every day for the rest of my life," Ning gasped after Tong had collapsed on top of them, both of them panting as they attempted to catch up with their runaway breath. The brunet let out a slight laugh, not raising his head from Ning's neck.

"So… does that mean that I can call you Tong now?" The laugh this time was full, shaking both of their bodies.


End file.
